Mossman

Well, my company is exhibiting at a major healthcare event in Edinburgh in a few weeks and we are holding a symposia in the evening. We have spent a considerable amount of money on this (mostly the fee for the exhibition and to be allowed to hold a symposia).

We have now been told that we are going to be charged £8 a bottle corkage for the wine we want to bring in before the event. I think that's disgusting!! Can we refuse? Am I a little behind the times re corkage charges? Any comments welcome!

Mossman, disgusted

boxst

Hello

That is slightly more than I paid for my wedding corkage.

I was quite shocked as I naively didn't know that corkage actualyl existed, but it seems pretty standard and you are paying for the privilige of someone opening the wine and bringing it to you.

Steve.

joni

A list of some of what you are paying for:
a) Glass hire
b) Glass washing
c) Glass polishing
d) A proportion of the upkeep of the venue
e) Service
f) Loss of revenue for the venue
g) Receiving and secure storage
h) Chilling
j) Fee for a fully licensed environment

That is an extremely fair corkage price. If you want to bring your own, you are depriving the venue of valuable income...stop moaning

Dream Weaver

Thats about right, same cost for corkage at our forthcoming wedding.

Does seem a pain, but still work sout cheaper than buying their champagne!! £38 for standard Moet

imlach

Having an event in Edinburgh soon - the caterers we are using (as used by the BBC!) do not charge corkage!! Great!
And they are quite happy with us purchasing our own wine, so it's not as if they are upping the wine costs to "hide" the corkage fee.

All other caterers/venues were charging about £7-8 per bottle corkage, so must be standard.......

chiark

Buy a jereboam of champagne...

Mossman

Or a methusalem...?? (Hmmm... spelling could be way off here!)

The_Gza

Or a nebb....nebbucc.....nedd...really big one

Mossman

Nebuchadnezzar !!!!!
King of Babylon apparently!!!)

druddle

I went down the route of the Nebu...wotsit of champagne for our wedding and was told the corkage of 15 pound per bottle was for a "bottle" (which is a defined size). The corkage would increase with the size of the bottle.

As for 38 quid for a bottle of Moet. Hahaha thats funny, i think the stuff is rank. Far better champers out there (Veuve, Jacquart, Mercier). Better still get yourself out to Rheims/Epernay and buy it from a small champagne house in the hills - 7 quid a bottle and it was the best i have tasted !!

Back on subject, we were quoted 10 quid for wine and 15 quid for champagne (both per bottle) at Wentworth Golf Club for out wedding.

Dave

Dream Weaver

We like Veuve C, but thought the Moet may be better as most guests will have heard of it, similar cost though (abroad ), so we may go that route yet.

druddle

DW - If you want some more info about going to the Champagne region let me know, i still have a load from out trip in late Feb for the weekend. Will probably end up there again for a bit longer in June !!

Also if not all your guests are champagne drinkers, then what about a Rose champagne ? The taste tends to be a little sweeter and less harsh than Blanc de Blanc/Noir. Also a Brut will be a little sweeter as it has 64g (i think) of sugar added in the fermentation process (guess who was listening at the Mumm tour )

BTW - i have sent you a mail about something else unrelated.

Dave

[Edited by druddle - 4/15/2003 12:48:22 PM]

Brendan Hughes

So, soon to be renamed a "George W Bush" then?

Gridlock Mikey

Beer is the way forward

Uncouth maybe but saves you £8 a pop

Mikey

druddle

At my sisters wedding, my bro in law had a crate of Bud presented to him at the top table as he does not like Champagne. He was battered by the end of dinner !!!

Dave

bigsinky

you wanna drink champagne, drink Cristal no other comes close IMHO

cheers

big sinky

Luke

Moet......sold in curry houses and Co-op's.

basal_lobe

As far as champagne goes I prefer a cuvee that is elaborated using 100% chardonnay with a very fine mousse. That being the case I would say that Castellan "Florens" is the finest value champagne available.

Moet (as recounted to me by a drunk riddler) is for Japanese tourists and the moronic.

Dave Thornton

Many people think that paying £8 corkage is a bit steep but they're quite happy having a bottle of house wine for £11 which retails for £3!

Regarding Champagne, just to clarify, but Brut is a dry Champgane; Blanc de Blanc means it is made solely from white (green) grapes (chardonnay) while Blanc de Noir means it is made from black (red) grapes.

The best value Champagne at the moment is Waitrose's 1996 vintage Champagne at just £15.99/bottle. If you've ever drunk vintage against non-vintage you'll appreciate the difference. For a branded Champagne I would go for Mercier Demi-Sec (medium dry) - you'll find this popular with the older generations who still like Blue Nun. For a cheaper branded Champagne, Waitrose sell Bredon Brut for just £10.99 and it deservedly won a silver medal in 2002.

Regarding larger bottles, a magnum (2 bottles) is more than twice the price of a bottle because it is hand-filled rather than by machine.

Dave
(ex-wine trade)

Shark

LMAO @ Mikey

David

Sheepsplitter

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T16GER

I'm with bigsinky, if your gonna drink the stuff, drink Cristal, by far the best I've tasted, but then if you want cheap and cheerful go for Bollinger or Taittinger and if your just after getting pi55ed on the stuff then go for Lanson Black Label...

camk

Vintage Krug.... for specials

Veuve Cliquot NV Orange label for a night in front of the telly with chocolate and crisps...

[Edited by camk - 4/15/2003 8:28:33 PM]

Chubbs

supply your own corkscrew's and open the ******* yourself?